A Day of First

The First Fellowship - We had our first fellowship after church last night. The menu was nachos and fellowship. God has given us a new family but they had never been to the same services as our other family until yesterday morning. I solicited a commitment from both parties to be there for the evening service and then announced our planned fellowship. I preached on the importance of fellowship both with the Person of God and the People of God.

The First Hurdle Passed - We were finally able to jump the old hurdle of 13, we had 14! That is actually bigger news than it seems in that I have succeeded in running off one dyed-in-the-wool charismatic and Ezra is now living in Ohio. The fellowship was the big plan, surpassing 13 was icing on the cake!

The First Visitors Invited by Our People - We have had visitors all along but last night we had a family come from the efforts of our new family. That is exciting, it speaks of growth not just in numbers but in spiritual life. I know that our other families have invited others that have not come but with success will come excitement and more success.

The First Shouting Message - After the service Peggy informed me that I had "yelled" in my message. Actually I even pounded my fist on my makeshift pulpit. I do not attempt to change who I am other than bringing all things under Christ but it is much more difficult to preach with the same freedom I can enjoy in English while stumbling in Spanish. The ability to get excited in the message shows a growth in my Spanish ability. One of our men commented last night after the service that he enjoyed preaching that "had unction of the Holy Spirit".